


Snow Day

by gr8escap



Series: Neighbors [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Political Animals
Genre: Breaking the Law, Gen, Neighbors, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Snow Day, gratuitous cat lady appearance, gratuitous senior citizen neighbor, steve is a bad influence, tj is also a bad influence, using the shield as a sled, you can't sled on the capitol grounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9295982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gr8escap/pseuds/gr8escap
Summary: Based on an anonymous tumblr ask/prompt for "Can we see Steve and TJ enjoying a snow day? I love their friendship!"





	

 

Steve heard the ruckus outside his patio door, he looked out into the early morning snowstorm to see the roads, sidewalks, and rooftops buried in snow. There was a tree that shaded his balcony in the summer, and it was now broken in two, a large branch, the size of a completely separate tree was draped across two cars. The rest of the tree, weighted with snow was dipping in different, impossible directions.

He hurried to put his boots and a coat on, and rushed down the stairs. He almost collided with TJ coming out of his own apartment.

“Did you see it? Holy shit! The tree.” TJ’s eyes were wide, as he zipped his own coat and tossed his scarf haphazardly around his neck.

“I did, I mean, did you see it happen? I saw the aftermath.” Steve kept pace with TJ on the stairs. They both rushed outside, TJ stopped to talk to Mrs. Ludwell. Steve kept going to where the tree and the cars were tangled together.

 

“Mrs. Ludwell, do you know whose cars those are?”

“I’m sorry TJ. I don’t. Tell your friend to be careful.” The older woman said worriedly.

“Mrs. Ludwell, that’s Steve, from apartment 33?”

“Oh ok, well, anyway, tell him I said to be careful.” She smiled.

“Are your cats inside?”

“Yes, yes, they are. Thank you for remembering them. You’re such a good boy TJ.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Ludwell. You know, it’s cold out here, you can probably watch from your window, inside your warm living room. Why don’t you go inside? I’ll call you if we need anything.”

TJ was nearly unable to stop watching Steve remove a giant tree from a car, in order to look politely at Mrs. Ludwell as he tried to convince her that her thin sweater wasn’t enough for this weather.

Once she was safely inside the building, TJ was dumb enough to approach Steve, “Need any help?” He asked before laughing at himself and at the absurdity.

“Do you know who owns these cars?” Steve asked.

“Nope, not even able to help with that.” TJ shook his head. “Looks like power’s out, you managed to get the tree moved without much of an audience, I’m sure that’s a relief.”

“Damn, what a mess, look at those cars.”

“I’m just glad they buried the power lines a few years ago, at least you didn’t have to stand guard over live wires – you would have just stood guard, right? You wouldn’t pull some weird, stupid, and shocky stunt like moving a live wire would you?”

“Not without my gear.” Steve grinned. “If we’re stuck here, and we have no power, what are we going to do with ourselves?”

“I have coffee. I’m almost positive it’ll be warm- _ish_ if we go up now. I’m also pretty sure you have _something_ we could dunk. Also… how do you feel about breaking the law?”

Steve stopped, giving TJ a very cautious, curious look.

“I know the best fucking sledding spot, and we might just be able to get away with it. It’s been illegal since 1876.”

“TJ.” Steve was so close to pouncing on the idea. “we can’t.”

“We could. I mean, we could try. One run, just for shits and giggles.”

“Do you have any idea what that would entail?”

“I do. Stealth, deception, balls.” TJ laughed, heading up the steps into the building. “I’ve got two out of three, I suspect you have all three. That puts us pretty high in the “this could succeed” column.”

Steve followed TJ through the building and up to his apartment, “TJ, you wanna know what might make this possible?”

“Balls, stealth and deception?” TJ repeated, pouring blissfully hot coffee into two mugs.

“We need a sled. It would take two runs though…” Steve took a mug from TJ and took a deep drink of the hot beverage, “but we might be able to do it.”

“What?” TJ was watching Steve’s expressions for any tell, the self-satisfied smirk was just antagonizing TJ.

“Come with me.” Steve went to the door, not waiting for TJ to follow. TJ was right behind him, pulling his door closed, and trying not to spill coffee as he trailed Steve up to the third floor.

Steve let TJ in, “Day old, homemade donuts in the bread box. Bring two.” He said as he went into the bedroom. He was back out before TJ had the two donuts on a plate. “Would you like to try this out?”

TJ turned and saw _the shield_ and laughed so hard he almost fumbled the plate. “You’re shitting me.”

“Why not? I’ve seen those plastic disks kids are out there sliding around on, this will _not_ be pegged as an illegal snow-traveling device. If you can get us in with it I can get us two runs down your choice of hill.”

“You can guarantee two?”

“I can.” Steve grinned, taking a donut, and dunking it with a cocky air.

“How comfortable are you with showing it off a little, you know, letting some of the staffers touch it, hold it maybe?”

“Will it get us in?” Steve raised his eyebrows in challenge.

“Oh my god, this is going to be amazing. I’ve never done this – even as a kid.”

* * *

 

TJ couldn’t believe he’d bluffed and Steve had charmed them past security, and staff, on Capitol grounds, but here they were, on the top of the steps, that were as snow packed as the entire city had been. Getting there was another miracle, but Steve had the right kind of transportation for any weather at his disposal. After all, he couldn’t always be reliable on his motorcycle, and emergencies didn’t wait for motorcycle weather.

“What’s your plan?” TJ whispered, the words coming out in the form of mist.

“I don’t know if you could manage to throw this, so I have to go first. I’ll go down, throw the shield…”

“I can’t catch it any more than I could throw it.” TJ interrupted, becoming disillusioned.

“Quiet. I can throw it back up and it’ll land in a snowdrift. You can pick it up can’t you?”

“Gee, I don’t know grandpa. I’ll do my best.” TJ grumbled, suppressing a smile.

“Haha. It’s a shame your grandmother isn’t here, she’d be happy to play along.”

“Did you two really go to coffee?” TJ asked, wondering how chummy they’d gotten since their Christmas introduction.

“Didn’t she tell you? We’ve been out several times. She would love this.”

“Ok, eew. Ok. So you’ll go, you’ll throw it, I’ll pick it up, and get caught.”

“I thought you were ready for this, deception, and what was it? Balls? Too cold TJ?”

“Oh hell no. You did not just go there. Get on your ride old man.”

Steve laughed and laid the shield down on the snow. He remembered the sweet spot, sitting in the center, folding his legs up shockingly tight, if TJ were to be asked, and grabbed onto the leather strap.

“You’re that fucking limber?” TJ said in awe, thoughts that should _not_ be running through his head, trampling all common sense. “Damn.”

TJ heard Steve laugh, as well as the sound of the vibranium shield cutting through the snow. He was relieved that Steve had the wherewithal to keep from screaming, as the shield slid effortlessly over the snow, but then again, the guy admitted to jumping out of planes without parachutes, this was a lark, and TJ knew it. He watched with envy as Steve hit the flat ground and gracefully pulled himself from the snow, picked up the shield and flung it in TJ’s direction.

Sanity and self-preservation forced TJ to duck, but the shield landed with a fwap, in the snow bank nearby. He hurried and picked it up, looking around nervously. If they were going to pull this off, he was going to have to keep his mouth shut.

TJ planted his ass in the center of the shield as he’d seen Steve do, tried to fold his legs up but the pull of gravity, the slick spot that had formed from the first pass, and his moving had him slipping down. He wasn’t going to be able to keep his mouth shut.

He was going faster and faster, and found himself spinning, and cursing. The shield was rotating clockwise; three o’clock, five o’clock, oh shit, they were spotted. He wasn’t halfway down the slope Steve had plowed before him and there were security guards calling after them.

Steve hoisted TJ out of the snow by one arm, and grabbed the shield with the other, “Come on, we can still outrun them.”

“You can, maybe.” TJ shrieked, trying to find his footing on the slick ground where Steve’s path had continued past his own stopping point.

“Come on.” Steve wasn’t laughing at TJ. Not exactly.

TJ followed Steve, trying his damnedest to keep up and to keep upright in general. Steve made it to the car first, throwing the shield in the back, before opening the passenger door. TJ jumped inside just after Steve settled into the driver’s seat, “You think we’ll be allowed to leave?” he asked as he started the vehicle and backed out of the parking spot.

“I don’t know, they’re not following, give it a shot.” TJ panted, from nerves as well as exertion in the cold. “That was stupid and wild, and I’m so fucking glad I had the idea.”

“It gets your heart beating.” Steve laughed. “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve done that.”

“You’ve sledded on the shield at the capitol before?”

Steve’s laughter filled the car as they succeeded in driving out of the secured parking lot with a smile and a wave to the person in the booth.

“Holy shit!” TJ joined Steve’s laughing, “you fucking got us out of there. Where did you sled on the shield before?”

“In Italy and Germany. War’s hell but sometimes you take your fun where you can get it.”

“That was too easy, I expect a phone call.” TJ wheezed, still laughing, even though his heart was pounding. “We were almost caught, I would have been.”

“I wouldn’t let you take the fall alone. I instigated that as much as you did.”

“I was going down that shit backwards.” TJ giggled, “I can’t stop thinking about that. Thanks for instigating and encouraging me. That was fun.”

“It was.” Steve agreed. “It was worth it, and possibly would have been worth getting caught.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. We might still find out.” TJ grinned.

“Whatever comes of it, it was a good use of a snow day. You think the power’s back on at home?”

“We should stop for coffee, just in case it’s not.” TJ suggested, still catching his breath from the whole thing. “That was a good use of a snow day.”

Their grins were those of ten-year-old boys who had just gotten away with something. After all, they had, and hell, age is only relative anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an anonymous tumblr ask/prompt for "Can we see Steve and TJ enjoying a snow day? I love their friendship!"


End file.
